Description

A majority of the design and component selection processes for mobile air
conditioning systems are based on results obtained from steady-state analyses.
Although valuable, these steady-state tests do not accurately simulate the
operation of mobile air conditioners. To allow transient testing of mobile air
conditioning systems for use in model development and component selection, a
heavily instrumented test facility was built. The test facility can accept any
prototype or production mobile air conditioning systems. The curre.n t setup
contains up-to-date components from a Ford 1994 Crown Victoria R-134a air
conditioning. system. The design and construction of the Crown Victoria test
sections, as well as several improvements made to the test facility, are discussed in
detail.
The test facility can achieve condenser and evaporator air-side versus
refrigerant-side energy balances within 5% - quite good considering the large
range of operating conditions tested. Also included in this report is a collection of
preliminary transient results. These results display the versatility of the test stand
and the ability to collect quality transient data. Future reports from this project will
contain additional transient results and analyses.

Issue Date:

1995-07

Publisher:

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center. College of Engineering. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.